


A Golden Opportunity

by memorizingthedigitsofpi



Series: June Fic-A-Day Challenge [3]
Category: Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. (TV)
Genre: Gen, Raina is smarter than everyone, amazing story generator, and she is a force to be reckoned with, fic a day challenge
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-06-03
Updated: 2015-06-23
Packaged: 2018-04-02 17:00:05
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 1,272
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4067659
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/memorizingthedigitsofpi/pseuds/memorizingthedigitsofpi
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>What if Raina had found another way to show Skye who Jiaying really was? AU: Raina lives.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Aretsuna](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Aretsuna/gifts).



> The third fic in my [Amazing Story Generator, Fic-A-Day challenge](http://memorizingthedigitsofpi.tumblr.com/post/120419056932/ive-been-thinking-for-a-while-that-id-like-to) for June. If you want to, you can send me a prompt of three numbers between 1 and 60.
> 
> Numbers: 7, 2, 41  
> Prompt: After a bitter custody battle, a sassy nun is trapped in an abandoned gold mine.
> 
> Also, the start of the fic is from part 1 of the season 2 finale. Then it diverges pretty rapidly :P

Raina cautiously approached the bridge where Jiaying had suggested they meet. She had tried to see the outcome of their meeting, but the future was clouded. There was still some uncertainty. Too many outcomes.

"Thank you for meeting me, Raina," Jiaying greeted her, sincerity in her voice if not her posture.

Raina took in the stance of military repose that Jiaying always adopted. She might not have had a vision about this meeting, but she certainly had a gut feeling.

"How are you feeling?" she asked as she approached. The scars on Jiaying's face seemed to be lightening rapidly, though that could be an effect of the torchlight.

"Stronger," Jiaying replied. "I should have listened to your warning about S.H.I.E.L.D." she admitted up front.

Raina was instantly more wary rather than less. In her experience, anyone who was this forthright had a lot to hide. "I hadn't foreseen you getting attacked," she said. In fact, she hadn't foreseen any violence with S.H.I.E.L.D. at all. "I would have told you." True, she would have turned that information to her own advantage, but still she wouldn't have kept it to herself.

"These are dangerous days," Jiaying said mildly, as if she were commenting on how the weather was getting warmer. "I'm grateful for your visions," she said quickly, and Raina didn't need to see the future to see what was going to happen here. "You'll be a... _valuable_ advisor."

The fog covering the future was clearing now, and Raina could see the knife behind Jiaying's back. Skye was already in position to see what she needed to see, but was death the only possible route to take? She thought quickly, weighing her options and seeing the different futures playing out in her mind's eye.

Laughing humourlessly, Raina crossed her arms over her chest. "Advisor," she said, and the word tasted bad in her mouth. "Growing up, my dream was to _lead_ the inhumans." And now that she'd met them, she was singularly unimpressed. They were more like livestock than they were like the mystical creatures she'd heard about as a child. And Jiaying wasn't a sheepdog. She was a wolf.

But Raina was a scorpion.

"Life is rarely what we dream," Jiaying said and Raina clearly heard the mockery of her gift in that phrase.

"I've learned that more painfully than most," she replied, arms still crossed over her chest, right hand deep in the opposite sleeve and gripping the knife she'd hidden there. "But that doesn't mean I have to accept it," she said, pulling the weapon out just in time to block Jiaying's stab.

Skye's gasp was just barely audible over the sound of dagger clashing with dagger as Jiaying stabbed again and Raina blocked her once more.

"You'll _never_ lead the inhumans," Jiaying shouted through clenched teeth as she tried to force her blade to Raina's throat.

"Neither will _you_ ," Raina spat back, ducking out of the way and spinning into a defensive posture. "Not after tonight."

Jiaying let out cry of rage as she swung around in a roundhouse kick aimed at Raina's face.

But Raina wasn't there. She'd dropped to the floor of the bridge and rolled, and now she grabbed the ankle Jiaying was balancing on and pulled the other woman down with her.

"After this, the inhumans will be _free_ of your _tyranny_ ," Raina shouted, kneeling up and stabbing down towards Jiaying's heart.

"Gordon!"Jiaying cried, rolling desperately to the side.

There was a flash of light and a whoosh of air as he appeared out of nowhere.

"The mine!" Jiaying shouted, kicking Raina in the chest when she moved to stab again. "Quickly!"

Raina dropped her knife as Gordon's arms tightened around her, almost cutting off her breath. She had just enough time to look at Skye before the blue mist surrounded her and took her away.

She might not have killed Jiaying, but the look on Skye's face told her she had definitely defeated her.

Another flash of light and another whoosh of air and Raina was left in cool darkness. 

The smell of damp gradually merged with the sound of a drip a few hundred meters to her right.

Her eyes slowly adapted to the darkness, their larger pupils allowing her to see when before she would have been blind. Before long, the light in the cave was almost blinding as it reflected off of the shimmering substance in the walls.

 _Gold_.

The mine, Jiaying had said.

Raina knew where she was now. And she also knew who was nearby.

She smiled to herself and sauntered down the empty mine shaft. Soon, Jiaying would be taken down. Skye would see to that. And then?

Then it was Raina's turn to play.


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Aretsuna gave me three more numbers and strangely enough, the prompt ended up fitting perfectly with this story. And so, we continue!
> 
> This chapter is the 23rd short fic in my Amazing Story Generator Fic-a-Day Challenge for June.
> 
> Numbers: 52, 3, 24  
> Prompt: Forced to join the family business, a gold prospector is reunited with a long-lost twin.

Nisha sighed as she packed up her equipment. She would have lost count of how much of the catalyst she'd made if she didn't have to keep such meticulous records.

She couldn't help but chuckle to herself. Meticulous records. Pristine lab equipment. Precise dosages. These were not things most people would associate with an underground laboratory carved out of the rock. The floors might be plexiglass, but you could still see the dirt underneath them.

She allowed herself a moment to look around at the light bouncing off of the golden threads in the walls. It really was a _pretty_ place to work, if a bit lacking in sunlight. But then -- she glanced down at her mottled skin, webbed fingers, and carefully filed claws -- sunlight wasn't always such a good thing.

Of course, if the catalyst worked, _she_ wouldn't be the strange one on the planet. The strange ones would be the humans. Her people, her _family_ would be free.

She hesitated, then, as she always did. She'd been told since birth that she was something special. That she would _become_ something special. That she and her sister were the family's greatest hope for salvation.

But only one of them could go to the surface. Someone had to stay behind and care for grandmother, and Nisha had been chosen.

Nisha would stay behind and work on the catalyst while her sister went to the surface to discover the means. Nisha would sow the seeds to end humanity while her sister sought out the fertilizer to help their people grow.

Nisha would stay trapped in this barren hole in the ground while her sister got to meet the sky.

And then, six months ago, the miracle had happened. She'd been preparing her grandmother's lunch when suddenly she froze. A mass of rock grew up around her, cutting off her air and covering her eyes. She'd thought she was dying. She'd _felt_ like she was dying. And then...

She shook her head to clear it and was just about to get into her jeep for the short ride back to camp when she heard an eerie echo reverberating off of the walls.

It sounded like a song from her childhood. A song she sang when she ran and played with her sister. A song she hadn't heard in so long that hearing it now sent her spiralling through memories.

And then a hooded figure appeared at the edge of the lamplight.

"Nisha?" came the voice from the shadows, and it was at once both so strange and so familiar that it sent a shiver up her spine.

Her eyes narrowed to try to see more of the shape in the darkness but the light of the lamps was too blinding.

Not sure if she could trust her voice, she cleared her throat and said, "Raina?"


End file.
